Friday was probably the most dramatic day of my life.


It started off like any other day, woke up at 6:10am, excited to go to the hospital.

Never did I know that I would be the last person a patient would talk to. And her last words would be that she wanted to die to end her suffering.

A nurse saw her foaming in the mouth about 5 minutes after she told me that, and pressed for "Code Blue" when she couldn't feel her pulse. Many doctors and nurses rushed to her bed. It was a total chaos. A nurse was furiously pumping her chest.

I was traumatized.

Prior to that, I had been by her side, talking to her in my limited Hokkien as I saw that her breakfast was untouched. It was a monologue as she was grunting all along.

Finally, she complained of nausea and wanted me to bring her a bag. So I did, and highlighted to the staff nurse about it.

I continued staying by her side until I had to do something else. The next thing I knew, she passed on.


She gave up living. Just like that.

Could this happen if I had stayed longer with her?


I had assumed that those words about wanting to die was said out of frustration, as we often use the word "die" so casually. I didn't know that a person can die just by deciding he/she wants to. Is it all in the mind???

It intrigued me to think about the human willpower. How can one actually buy time when death is presented in front of one's face? Never underestimate the power of one thought.



~~~



After work, I went over to the School of Business for a 15-minute survey of which I earned $10 hehehe.

At the bus-stop on the way back, a stranger approached me for direction of which I wasn't of much help. But that led us to talk about us. :) She was from America and an ex-NUS student studying about Policy and is now working with MOH as a policy maker.

Then she asked about me, what am I doing blabla and was very surprised and elated that I'm taking Nursing in NUS. She went 0.0

After which I found that she was a nurse back in America and is currently taking her PhD in Nursing here. I went 0.0

She told me that in 1989, she had proposed to implement advanced study in Nursing in Singapore as she believed that Nursing is more than just technical work. However, back then, our government wasn't receptive to that yet.

So, it took them over a decade to actually realise or do something about it.

We have her to thank for sowing a little seed. :)


We could have blabber on further about nursing, about our plans, I mean what is the probability of the both of us meeting in NUS School of Business on a Friday afternoon during the holidays??? :)

But her bus came and we didn't have time to exchange numbers. She asked for my name again and said that she'll check up the directory. I don't know how she is going to do so, but I hope she does contact me somehow!



What a beautiful encounter! :)